The Bride Wore Chocolate [Paperback]

Shirley Jump (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Take one restless, slightly nervous bride-to-be, add a mystery hunk who makes a box of Godiva look bland, and mix well.

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER?

Candace Woodrow thinks so. She has no business even looking at another man-no matter how sinfully sexy he is-much less waking up in Michael Vogler's bed three weeks before she marries Mr. Right. She's determined her wedding will go off without a hitch-as long as she can keep her meddling grandmother, her flighty mother, and her well-meaning friends from interfering with her plans-and pointing out her doubts every time she turns around.

Which won't be easy, since Michael just became Candace's biggest client, with an order for thousands of the Gift Baskets to Die For she creates with her friends. Worse, he wants to work closely with Candace...every step of the way. It's enough to drive a girl to intravenous chocolate consumption, 24/7. And the way Candace's heart flip-flops whenever Michael is around is an industrial-sized clue that keeping a tight rein on her future and her heart might not be such a good idea. But risking it all for a man she barely knows is even crazier, right?

Sometimes, crazy is a good thing...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It looks as though chocolaholic Candace Woodrow's wedding is doomed. The DJ has a heart attack. The priest runs off with the church secretary. A fire turns her wedding gown to ashes. But nothing holds a candle to the fact that three weeks before the wedding, Candace wakes up in a strange man's bed with a hangover. Michael falls for Candace as she pours out her heart to him after her fifth margarita. Even though it's obvious that they're soul mates, Candace insists on going through with her plans to marry her dull but reliable fiance, who's brought his dictatorial, manipulative mother along to help Candace get things right. Michael figures that Candace is fair game until she actually says "I do," and he tries everything to woo her away from her ill-suited intended. Humor abounds in this start to a promising new series, and as an extra bonus, Jump provides decadent chocolate recipes with very entertaining directions. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A brilliantly funny story!" -- (Writers Unlimited Reviews, September 2004)

"Humor abounds in this promising new series...as an extra bonus, Jump provides decadent chocolate recipes with very entertaining directions." -- (Booklist, September 1, 2004)

"The Bride Wore Chocolate is a sweet, indulgent love story to cure your cravings." -- (Romance Junkies, September, 2004)

"The first in an entertaining new trilogy...filled with humor." -- (Romantic Times Bookclub, September, 2004)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821776916
• ISBN-13: 978-0821776919
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,436,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nationally bestselling author Shirley Jump didn't have the willpower to diet nor the talent to master under-eye concealer, so she bowed out of a career in television and opted instead for a career where she could be paid to eat at her desk'writing.

She started out in journalism, selling her first article at the age of eleven and dreaming of being the next Jane Pauley. After writing 3000 articles and two non-fiction books, Shirley grew too dependent on her robe and fuzzy slippers, though, and decided a career as a freelance writer suited her better.

Then she got married. And had two kids.

Humor became the only thing that got her through the mashed potato flingfests and toilet paper decorating sprees. At first, seeking revenge on her children for their grocery store tantrums, she sold embarrassing essays about her children to anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Working Woman's Soul and Chocolate for Women II. However, it wasn't enough to feed her growing addiction to writing funny.

So she turned to the world of romance novels, where messes are (usually) cleaned up before The End and no one is calling anyone a doodoo head. In the worlds Shirley gets to create and control, the children listen to their parents, the husbands always remember holidays and the housework is magically done by elves.

She sold her first book to Silhouette Romance in 2001. That novel, THE VIRGIN'S PROPOSAL, won the Booksellers' Best Award for Best Traditional Romance of 2003. Two of her subsequent books were finalists in the Golden Quill Awards and two others were finalists in the Madcap Awards for best romantic comedy. She is also a Reviewers' Choice Award winner.

Shirley has sold twenty-six novels and now writes stories for Harlequin/Silhouette and Kensington Books about love, family and food'the three most important things in her life (though, there are many days when the order is reversed), using that English degree everyone said would be so useless.

She found a way to combine all her favorite things in her recipes with her own romantic comedy series from Zebra Books, which launched in September 2004 with THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE. The fourth, THE BACHELOR PREFERRED PASTRY, is a February 2006 release, followed by PRETTY BAD in February 2007. Her next Romances will be a linked duet of BACK TO MR. & MRS. and MARRIED BY MORNING in May and June 2007. She also writes for Harlequin NeXt.

Though she's thrilled to see her books in stores around the world, Shirley mostly writes because it gives her an excuse to avoid cleaning the toilets and helps feed her shoe habit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must-read!, September 12, 2004

By 

Shirley Jump Groupie (Wyoming) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bride Wore Chocolate (Paperback)

I loved this book. This funny, sexy, melt-in-your mouth story about a sensible bride-to-be, her straight-laced groom-to-be, and an accidental complication--a temptingly delicious bachelor-for-life with a romantic streak as wide as a river of Godiva kept me guessing all the way to the tasty conclusion.

The moment I read about the heroine waking up in the wrong man's bed after her can't-find-a-wedding-dress pity party (whoops!) I knew this story was a winner. If you love romantic comedy, especially fast-paced, witty, FUN writing, this is the book for you.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars even the recipes made me laugh, October 6, 2004

By 

Kate Rothwell "reads and writes" (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bride Wore Chocolate (Paperback)

It's a delicious frothy book. The hero and heroine are fun together and the over-the-top secondary characters (like the much-marrying mom) add plenty of color to the mix. WARNING: Do not attempt to read this unless you have chocolate in the house. At least have a few chocolate chips on hand.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romance and Chocolate - What Could be Better?, May 28, 2005

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bride Wore Chocolate (Paperback)

Candace Woodrow was getting married in three weeks and for someone who was detail oriented - planning everything down to the minutest detail, fate seemed to be conspiring against her. Were these all `signs' as her wacky grandmother kept telling her that this was wedding shouldn't take place - like the dress shop burning down with her bridal gown; the priest running off with the church secretary; or the cheap labels falling off the wedding invitations? Or was it fate weaving it's treacherous fingers in her life that found her waking up in a strange hunk's bed after a night of over imbibing too many cocktails and then find said `hunk' constantly turning up in her life and distracting her from the course she had set her mind on? Then fate must have had a very weird sense of humor.

Fate must have had a hand in putting Candace Woodrow in Michael Volgers face as well, because this confirmed bachelor couldn't seem to put her out of his mind as well. Candace was so different from any of the society debs he'd dated so far and just maybe he was going to reevaluate his stance on bachelorhood now that he'd had a taste of `Candy'.

This was a delightful and fun read - not to mention `fattening' if you follow even half the delectable recipes served up with a heavy dose of sage advice and loads of chocolate. Candace had once thrown caution to the wind been betrayed and vowed to live life by the book rather than run the chance of being hurt like that ever again. She'd picked out the safe - if boring road according to her wacky grandmother - and was ready to marry Barry Borkenstein. Fortunately, Michael entered her life and was ready, willing and able to convince her that she should trust her heart once more and take a leap of faith - with him. Filled with wonderful chocolate recipes, an indomitable and wacky grandmother, a serial marrying mother, and well-intentioned friends -- this is a sensually romantic comedy you won't want to miss. --- Marilyn, for www.romancedesigns.com ---